| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: be satisfied with a wife like her--illiterate, artful,
and selfish?
The youthful infatuation of nineteen would naturally
blind him to every thing but her beauty and good nature;
but the four succeeding years--years, which if rationally
spent, give such improvement to the understanding, must
have opened his eyes to her defects of education,
while the same period of time, spent on her side
in inferior society and more frivolous pursuits,
had perhaps robbed her of that simplicity which might
once have given an interesting character to her beauty.
Sense and Sensibility |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: that that could not be, and I restrained myself. I drew back
from her, rushed to the table, grasped the paper-weight, and
threw it on the floor by her side. I took care to aim a little
to one side, and, before she disappeared (I did it so that she
could see it), I grasped a candlestick, which I also hurled, and
then took down the barometer, continuing to shout:
"'Go away! I do not answer for myself!'
"She disappeared, and I immediately ceased my demonstrations. An
hour later the old servant came to me and said that my wife was
in a fit of hysterics. I went to see her. She sobbed and
laughed, incapable of expressing anything, her whole body in a
The Kreutzer Sonata |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Daughter of Eve by Honore de Balzac: such an animal could be found in those mountains of the moon, still
virgin of the tread of Europeans--intoxicates a secondary mind as much
as it saddens great ones; but Raoul was enchanted by it; although he
was then too anxious to secure all women to care very much for one
alone.
"Take care, my dear," said Marie's kind and gracious companion in her
ear, "and go home."
The countess looked at her husband to ask for his arm with one of
those glances which husbands do not always understand. Felix did so,
and took her home.
"My dear friend," said Madame d'Espard in Raoul's ear, "you are a
|
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Herland by Charlotte Gilman: interested in science.
Terry was rich enough to do as he pleased. His great aim was
exploration. He used to make all kinds of a row because there
was nothing left to explore now, only patchwork and filling in,
he said. He filled in well enough--he had a lot of talents--great
on mechanics and electricity. Had all kinds of boats and motorcars,
and was one of the best of our airmen.
We never could have done the thing at all without Terry.
Jeff Margrave was born to be a poet, a botanist--or both--but
his folks persuaded him to be a doctor instead. He was a good
one, for his age, but his real interest was in what he loved to call
Herland |
